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**Author Peek** Interview with Sue Star

Before we get started talking about your writing, tell us a little about yourself, where you’re from, what you do for a living (if you’re not a full-time writer) what hobbies you have, etc. Whatever you’d like to share to introduce yourself.

I live in Boulder, Colorado, where my mystery series takes place.Before that, I lived in South America, Asia, and even Ohio.These days, my husband and I live in our empty nest with a cat, the last of the pets we inherited from our three daughters.I retired from teaching Spanish at the local university so that I would have more time to write, read, and travel, now that our children all live overseas.Chasing after them is my official hobby.But I also love other outdoor activities, especially hiking and plein air painting.

1. What appeals to you about the genre that you write?

I write amateur sleuth mysteries with a lighter tone, dealing with family matters.What I love about this particular genre is the puzzle.I get to play the game of whodunnit.And I don’t always guess right.

2. Are you a plotter or a pantser (one who writes “by the seat of your pants”)?

I confess, I am a pantser.In spite of trying desperately to force a plot on my characters.They just won’t cooperate.They send me down blind alleys or away on detours through China.It would be much more efficient if they would let me rein them in, but alas…

3. What is your favorite part of writing?

When magic happens.Honestly, sometimes we are detouring through China when I realize that we were supposed to be there all along because of some throwaway clue from chapter two, and now it neatly wraps up a subplot.Who knew?

4. If you had to give up writing and do something else, what would you do instead?

Well, if I didn’t write, then I would be someone else.That person would probably have become an astrophysicist.But at this stage of the game, if I actually had to give up writing NOW after having written all my life, then I guess I’d be playing detective in some asylum.

5. What’s your favorite meal of the day?

Lunch, hands down.It’s so flexible.It can be dressed up or down from breakfast to high tea to dinner.It can even be skipped.It has no time frame.I love that about lunch, that it doesn’t fit into any mold.

6. Which are your favorite characters to write, the female characters or the male characters? Why?

Female characters are much more fun for me to write when I use a light tone.They’re complex in their seeming contradictions.When they’re humorous, they are both deep and superficial.Their devotion can make them fierce and unpredictable.Remember:never stand in the way of a mother bear and her cub.

7. If you had a superpower, what would it be, and how would you use it?

I would have the power to suspend time, so that I could sit leisurely, peacefully for hours in my reading chair and work my way methodically through my out-of-control TBR stacks.

8. Many writers dream of having the ideal location to write. If you could live anywhere in the world or live a particular lifestyle, where would you be answering these questions right now?

I would be writing these answers from one of my three villas around the world.Ideally, they would each be located within a short walk from each of my daughters’ homes (although I would settle for Spain, with a view of the sea).

9. Do you have any rejection stories to share? Reviews that meant something special to you?

I like to think that a rejection brings you one market closer to the right sale.As for reviews, my current book recently received a couple of very nice ones.IndieReader called it “energetic and engaging,” and Kirkus described it as “…a guilty pleasure of a book perfect for the beach.”I couldn’t be more thrilled!

10. Tell us about your next book & when is it being published?

My next book is Dancing for the General, by Rebecca Williamson and Bill Beatty.It is coming out later this year.It’s not a Sue Star book because it’s a historical crime, set in the American diplomatic mission to Turkey in the 1950’s, and it has a twist of romantic suspense.

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Be sure to come back to read more about Sue and her book, MURDER FOR A CASH CROP, on Wednesday’s Karen’s Killer Book Bench. Happy Reading!

**SPECIAL GIVEAWAY**: Sue is giving away a hard copy of MURDER FOR A CASH CROP to one reader who comments on this Author Peek or Karen’s Killer Book Bench blogs. Thank you, Sue, for sharing your story with us.

Good morning, Sue, and welcome to Karen’s Killer Book Bench. I have to agree with the others. As a writer and a reader, I’m always complaining about not enough hours in the day. It would be wonderful to have time to do everything I want to do without penalty of time running over me. 🙂 Thanks for sharing with us today!